Sponsor
Financial support. This research has been supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant nos. NNX17AJ35G and NNX16AH88G).
Published In
Ocean Science
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
Subjects
Oceanography, Ocean currents -- Observations, Surface waves (Water)
Abstract
Abstract.
The predictability of the sea surface height expression of baroclinic tides is examined with 96h forecasts produced by the AMSEAS operational forecast model during 2013–2014. The phase-locked tide, both barotropic and baroclinic, is identified by harmonic analysis of the 2-year record and found to agree well with observations from tide gauges and satellite altimetry within the Caribbean Sea. The non-phase-locked baroclinic tide, which is created by timevariablemesoscalestratificationandcurrents,maybeidentified from residual sea level anomalies (SLAs) near the tidal frequencies. The predictability of the non-phase-locked tide is assessed by measuring the difference between a forecast – centeredat T+36, T+60,or T+84h–andthemodel’slater verifying analysis for the same time. Within the Caribbean Sea, where a baroclinic tidal sea level range of±5cm is typical, the forecast error for the non-phase-locked tidal SLA is correlatedwiththeforecasterrorforthesubtidal(mesoscale) SLA. Root mean square values of the former range from 0.5 to 2cm, while the latter ranges from 1 to 6cm, for a typical 84h forecast. The spatial and temporal variability of the forecast error is related to the dynamical origins of the nonphase-locked tide and is briefly surveyed within the model.
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DOI
10.5194/os-15-1287-2019
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/30381
Citation Details
Zaron, E. D. (2019). Predictability of non-phase-locked baroclinic tides in the Caribbean Sea. Ocean Science, 15(5), 1287-1305.
Description
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.